The true cost of lies
by ingo d
Summary: It's not always what you say that can cause problems - but what you don't.
1. Chapter 1

As Lee stood motionless staring down the barrel of the gun pointed at him the whole world seemed to be at a standstill while his brain was in overdrive. His life, such as it had been was flashing before his eyes as well as other even more important thoughts, all the things he should said and done. He wished he'd told the admiral how much he meant to him, how much he not only admired but felt for him, loved even. Now it appeared if he was unlikely to get the chance to put things straight between them; Chip, his beloved Chip, the man he would willing lay his life down for and would without question do the same for him, who had nursed and mothered him through Annapolis, how he had hated it then, what he would give to have those times back again now, he was going to miss him, even the pranks. So many things they had planned to do together so many places still to see – but not now – now it was over. No more dreams, no more laughter and no more tears. Sorry Chip, I should have come to you, you would have known how better to tackle this – more importantly you would have listened, not judged, but listened, offered advice and support and helped me to try and understand. But now it was too late, no one would come to help him this time, there was no time, the man standing in front of him waving the gun was starting to lose what little self control he had. He was raving at Lee but the words were floating off in the distance somewhere unheard. The gun was shaking in Lee's face. His assailant's self control was fast evaporating long with his sweat. Not long now and it would all be over – he would miss everyone. His _Lady _but she would carry on with Chip at the Conn; he would make a good captain, long overdue. The admiral, he would grieve no doubt; but sooner or later some scientific project would come along that would grab his attention and he would take it and move on for the greater good of mankind, it is what he was meant to do. A great mind like his should not be wasted looking back but looking to the future. Sorry Jamie not even you will be able to put me back together this time, this is going to be one heck of a hole from such close range, at least it will be quick. All your hard work over the years will have gone to waste. At least the next Captain wont be as accident-prone you can take it easy with him.

At least there was no family, no wife, no children to suffer his loss – things might have been very different if only. As Lee's mind wondered at what might have been his thoughts were broken by a sharp all encompassing pain as his world started to teetering on the edge of reality - this was it, the end, he had never expected it to happen like this, on shore, on leave, his life was about to end and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He felt as if he were floating despite the immense pain, legs had gone to jelly and gave way beneath him – his world had gone black long before his body crashed onto the floor his life ebbing out of him in the fast expanding pool of blood. No time for goodbyes. If only he'd known the truth from the outset……….


	2. Chapter 2

Chip groaned, someone was shaking him violently, he struggled to open his eyes, it didn't seem 5 minutes ago that he had gone to bed with the lovely Joanne. A smile came across his face as he remembered – maybe she wanted seconds – he could force himself.

"Chip come on wake up" Joanne's voice was urgent, the shaking more violent.

"Hey, steady on, I can understand you're keen who wouldn't be, but give a man a chance" Chip eyes opened slowly as he rolled onto his back, barely focussing as the phone was thrust into his face. He hadn't even heard it ring.

"It's urgent, it's admiral, it's Lee, he's been shot"

Suddenly Chip was very awake as he grabbed the phone.

Chip was still trying to come to terms with what had happened as he walked through the main doors into the hospital. The corridors were busy with people going about their jobs but Chip barely noticed them, all he was interested in was locating the Admiral, Jamie and Lee and finding out what had happened and why.

After being directed by a very pleasant nurse he found the Admiral sitting in the corridor outside the operating theatre. It had been several hours since the Admiral had called him, it had taken him that long to get back to Santa Barbara despite breaking every speed limit possible on the way. Surely they couldn't still be operating on Lee, in which case it didn't bode well. He had been around enough hospitals, mostly waiting on his best friend, to know that the longer the surgery took the smaller the chances of survival.

The Admiral looked up as Chip approached, he had aged, his face looked gaunt, his eyes held none of their usual sparkle.

"He was barely alive when they brought him in Chip, though quite how nobody seems to know. He was shot in the chest, close range, down by the beach. Fortunately some passers by had called for help before the shooting had actually happened so the paramedics were only moments away when the shot was fired, that's probably what's saved us from having to arrange a funeral so far. They've been working on him ever since, in the ambulance on the way here and now in theatre. They wont tell me anything. Jamie arrived a couple of hours ago and is in there with them". At that moment an alarm sounded, it was coming from the operating theatre. Extra staff came running, they seemed to appear from nowhere, the Admiral and Chip tried to follow but were stopped at the door leading into the theatre, try as they might they couldn't see what was going on, there were too many people crowded round the operating table. Suddenly everyone stood back as the patient on the table, Lee, was give a shock, his body arched at which point the door was shut in their faces.

"ONI?"

"No Chip, nothing to do with them this time. Seems the man who shot him was a bit of a lunatic, was still at the scene when the police and paramedics arrived, gave himself up. Apparently hasn't said much since except that Lee had it coming. Jiggs Stark is down at the station trying to find out what he can." The admiral was clearly finding it difficult to talk; his voice was little more than a whisper.

They sat in silence waiting and watching the hands on the clock slowly going round. People came and went from the theatre, some gave them 'that' smile, the one that only hospital staff can give, the one that really grated on Lee's nerves, it was starting to get on the Admiral's, his nerves were frayed to their limit. He was about to get up and barge into the operating theatre and demand to be told what was happening when the door opened and Jamie approached, still wearing his greens covered in blood, Lee's blood. For a moment time seemed to stand still and the only sound heard was the ticking of the clock.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

If the Admiral and Chip were having a tough time of it at the hospital, nothing could have prepared Jiggs Starke for the kind of day he was about to have at the police station.

At last after what appeared to be a lifetime staring at the bland walls of the interview room waiting for someone to come and talk to him, a young police officer, who looked like he'd had better days, appeared holding out his hand

"Officer Baker, sorry to keep you waiting sir, I gather you are a friend of the injured man, Commander Crane"

Jiggs wasn't sure friend was quite the word he would have used to describe his relationship with Crane, although he couldn't deny Harriman Nelson was his best friend, ever since their time spent at Annapolis, and it was for that reason and that reason alone that he had agreed to come down the to station and not due to any concern about Crane's welfare.

"Commanding officer" Jiggs snapped in his best command voice, he knew that was not strictly speaking true but he could hardly say how he really felt about Crane or he would not get the information he promised Harri he would. "Do you have an update on his condition, the last time I called they were unable to tell me anything".

"I'm sorry admiral they haven't been very forthcoming with me either, only to keep saying that he is in surgery, I suppose the longer he stays alive even if it is in the operating theatre the better his chances, although how he wasn't killed outright beats me, someone was definitely watching over him" Starke could help but harrumph, that man seemed to have more lives than your average alley cat and his view was just as obnoxious.

"I don't suppose you're allowed to tell me much about the man that shot him"

The young officer shook his head, "Sorry Sir, there's not much I can tell you at the moment it's still early stages. I would be grateful though for any background information you can give me on Commander Crane, in particular his personal life if possible. All the man we arrested keeps saying is he deserved it although he's not really been very lucid since he arrived. We've got a doctor with him now and we're trying to do a background check on him but he's not being very cooperative and it's taking time, any information you can give us in the interim on the Commander would be appreciated"

"I'm not sure I can be of much help, I don't really know Crane socially (thank goodness he thought to himself) but he's a good enough officer, gets the job done, bit of a workaholic, don't think he really has much social life so to speak" Jiggs tried not to sound too disparaging but it wasn't easy.

The young policeman nodded, he got the feeling he was some history between the rather pompous man sitting in front of him and the injured Commander and as such he probably wasn't getting a very true picture of the victim by the admiral's manner.

"I see, so not really the sort to say, go out with a married woman then, incur the wrath of a jealous husband"

Starke couldn't help himself "Married woman you are joking, as far as I can tell he doesn't go out at all, spends all his time on that sub of his, has the social graces of a.." he just managed to stop himself from carrying out a complete character assassination of Lee, he paused and composed himself before continuing "what I mean is, as I said, he is a bit of a workaholic, no time for female company, not on a regular basis anyway and he certainly wouldn't get involved with another man's wife far too many principles".

The young policeman nodded politely, yes Commander Crane definitely wasn't one of Admiral Stark's favourite people that was blatantly obviously, he couldn't help but wonder what he had done to deserve such obvious distain from his commanding officer.

Just then the door to the interview room opened and a young female officer in uniform appeared carrying a folder. She handed it over in silence before leaving the room. Officer Baker sat reading the contents of the folder, for some reason he couldn't quite fathom Jiggs started to feel uneasy; when Officer Baker looked back at him there was definitely something different about the look in his eyes and the tone of his voice.

"Admiral, what can you tell me about a former naval Lieutenant called Bobby Harris, I believe you know him. It seems that he is the man who shot Commander Crane as well as being your ex son in law?"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Chip and the Admiral both jumped up on cue as Jamie approached, he looked exhausted and seemed to be having trouble looking them in the eye.

He held up his hand to try and stop the inevitable flow of questions that would soon bombard him, some of which he was certain he would not be able to answer honestly without hurting his two friends but, equally he knew however much pain it caused he was unable to lie to them;

"He's still alive, just, we lost him twice on the table but he is back with us now though for how long I don't know. He has lost a large amount of blood, his body has been in circulatory collapse but is slowly recovering. His BP has crept up slightly in the last half an hour although it is still well below the normal range. We are still transfusing him whole blood in an attempt to stabilise him. He is not responding as well and we would have hoped but he is still hanging on, although how much longer he will have the energy and willpower to do that I cannot tell you. The bullet itself took him straight through the chest, at close range it caused a large amount of damage as you can imagine. It took out two ribs which in turn punctured his lung, we have re-inflated that and done our best to plate the shattered ribs, the bits we couldn't mend we have had to remove. It shouldn't cause any lasting damage though he may end up with a slightly lopsided chest. There was also a large amount of tissue damage and also number small internal laceration caused by the bone splinters, they have caused almost as much internal bleeding as the gunshot wound itself. This will of course increase the chances of infection. The second bullet judging by the angle, was fired as he was falling, it went through his shoulder, took out his collar bone which again we have tried to plate back together, although not as successful as the ribs it should hold if he treats it with some care, ricocheted downwards and made a nasty hole in his shoulder blade as it exited. There's not much we can do for that other than wait for it to heal, during which time it will be extremely painful and debilitating. He is on every monitor, has every tube and will have a nurse with him constantly. If he becomes stable enough we will move him to ICU but at the moment any attempt at moving him could prove fatal. I'm sorry admiral, Chip I wish I had some better news for you but at least he's still alive and he has one of the best teams with state of the art facilities I know of looking after him, if anyone can keep him alive they will "

By the time Jamie had finished the colour had drained from both the Admiral and Chip, although neither expected everything to be perfect they had secretly hoped (and preyed) it would not be quite so harrowing either. Finally the Admiral looked up and met his doctor in the eye

"Just tell me one thing Jamie, will he live?"

Jamie placed his hand on his CO's shoulder and gently steered him back into the chair.

"I don't know Admiral, honestly I just don't know, his body has been through a lot, but every minute he stays alive his chances of recovery improve. We will just have to play the waiting game, there are going to be no quick fixes here we just have to give his body time to heal; do everything we can to help that and prevent anything that might cause any extra strain on his weakened system. For this reason he will be kept in the operating theatre for the time being, apart from the fact that we do not want to risk causing any damage moving him, it is the most sterile environment for him to be in to help control infection; and no I can't let you see him yet, it would be too much of an infection risk , I sorry" Expecting an argument on visiting Jamie was taken completely unaware when the Admiral rose, his voice lacking its usual strong tone

"Thank you Jamie for being so honest, the thought of life without that boy right now is unbearable, I know you are all doing your best for which I am so grateful. I cannot think of the better person to take care of him right now but we must help with that and so Chip and I" the XO looked at the admiral unsure what was coming next still too shocked to really take in properly what was being said "will leave you in peace to do your job, our thoughts and prayers are with you and Lee and we will be back but right now sitting here we are in your way, we need to get back to Seaview, _I need _to get back to Seaview I need to be doing something I feel so completely useless here; maybe the best way we can help right now is to take care of his lady, one less thing for him to worry about. You will tell him that wont you, not to worry we are taking care of her, he must concentrate on getting better" as the Admiral made to leave ushering Chip out with him Jamie nodded his agreement, he didn't have the heart to say that right now Lee was not going to be hearing anything. He watched the two men slowly take their leave still clearly numb from recent events and was relieved to look up and see Ski holding the door open, goodness knows how he found out or how long he had been there, but at he would be there to drive them to the Institute and to keep a watchful eye on them. As the doors closed he made his way back to the operating theatre, his patient and dear friend.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Commander Lee Crane Captain of the nuclear submarine Seaview was shot and critically injured today on Leadbetter beach, paramedics were quickly on the scene" the man's voice on the radio droned on but she wasn't really listening: her heart trying to say it couldn't be but her head was fearing the worst. "… A man is currently being held in police custody having given himself up at the scene …." She had pulled her car over into a lay-bye her hands shaking unable to control the steering wheel, unable to see the road clearly for the tears streaming down her face. She had broken it off with Lee for fear of something like this happening. She could still see his face, the terrible hurt in his eyes when she told him she could no longer see him; she could still hear his voice pleading with her not to call an end to their relationship; telling her how much he loved her; asking what he had done so he could put it right; but she couldn't, because in reality he had done nothing wrong and she still loved him deeply; but despite causing him such pain she had still not managed to prevent what had happened.

The police may not have been releasing the name of the man responsible for the shooting but she knew who it was. The first time she had seen him watching them coming out of a restaurant she thought it was her imagination playing tricks on her and she had dismissed it as paranoia, she had even laughed at herself in the mirror when she got home for being so stupid. Having spent so long under the control of such a man she had found it hard when someone as beautiful and caring as Lee had come along to accept that life could be like that. But the second time it had most definitely not been her imagination and the following day she had arranged to meet Lee and told him it was over between them. She had then gone home and got hopelessly drunk to try and bury the pain.

She had cursed herself for letting her ex husband still control her life but at the time she could see no other option. If only she had told her father maybe he could have done something, but then she would have had to tell him about Lee and more importantly she would have had to tell Lee the truth about herself, being Sarah Harris was one thing being Sarah Starke would have been something completely different altogether. She had been so afraid to tell Lee the truth in case she lost him knowing the animosity that ran between him and her father, that it had been easy to introduce herself by her married name. She had seen Lee's picture in the papers several times so once she had got over the shock of actually talking to him in person, albeit in the grocery aisle of the local store, being economical with the truth about her identity had seemed logical. He had made her laugh so much, she had never realised shopping could be such fun and she had never expected to see him again anyway, even if she had given him her number. Once he had called her up for a date things changed and the more time they spent together, the more they fell in love with each other, and the harder it became to admit the truth so she had kept her secret and she had still lost him.

She stared at the children in the park playing. Lee had told her how much he had wanted children of his own one-day, and although she had never thought about it herself the idea of being the mother to his children had appealed greatly. It had also added to her state of confusion. She knew she was being selfish not telling Lee the truth but she was enjoying being in love so much she did not want to risk losing it; it had also made her realise that she had never truly loved her husband as her time spent with him had never had the same

emotional impact as her time spent with Lee.

Now as she sat she realised that she had to do something proactive, she could not hide away from this any longer. Much as she wanted desperately to go to the hospital and find out about Lee, she did not want to cause unnecessary upset that would hinder his chance of survival. The only other thing she could do was to make sure the man responsible paid for what he had done properly; then she would go home and tell her father everything and hope he would understand.

Little did she know and she started up the engine and headed towards the police station that her plans would once again be turned upside down by events.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"I keep telling you, don't you people listen, I don't know why Bobby Harris should want to shoot Crane, as far I know they've never even met, certainly not through me anyway" Starke's angry voice boomed through the police station. How dare they keep him here and treat him like this, it was almost as if they thought _he_ had had something to do with Crane's shooting. How dare they. He may not be a friend of Crane's and in his mind he may wish the man were somewhere else being a burr up somebody else's backside; but he couldn't deny the man was an exceptional captain, to whom he owed his life.

Officer Baker held his gaze, he had no doubt now, the large man in front of him had the potential to be quite a bully, nasty even if crossed, it didn't bother him one bit he dealt with his type many a time before and far worse.

"Let me get this straight Admiral you're telling me that your son in law has never met Commander Crane, in that case why should he suddenly decide to shoot him".

"Ex son in law officer _EX, _my daughter divorced him, and as I keep telling you I have no idea why he should want to shoot Crane"

Leaning closer Officer Baker held Jiggs stare "and whose idea was the divorce Admiral hers or his, or yours?"

That's it Jiggs wasn't having any more if this young insolent pup treating him like some sort of criminal, he made to stand

"Sit admiral, there is a lot that needs clearing up here and the sooner you start cooperating with me and telling me the truth the sooner we can get this sorted out. Now I repeat the question, whose idea was it for your daughter and Bobby Harris to divorce?"

The last thing Jiggs wanted was his dirty linen in the public domain, he had worked very hard at keeping his daughter's unhappy marriage and subsequent divorce off limits. He had kidded himself it was for Sarah's benefit but in truth it had been as much for his own as hers. He had introduced them, encouraged the relationship, practically engineered it. After all Harris had been a fine young officer from a good solid Old Navy background, eminently respectable. The wedding had been a large naval affair, the talk of the base for quite some time. It was only afterwards that things had started to go wrong. It quickly became apparent to Jiggs that Harris had got as far as he was ever likely to go in the Navy, and that was mostly on the back of who he was rather ability and he had become a disappointment to his family. He had obviously seen his marriage to the SubComPac's daughter as a stepping stone to greater things, and when that hadn't materialised his true nature started to come to the fore. Officer Baker's voice jolted him back to the hear and now,

"Admiral I ask you again, is there any reason you can think of why Bobby Harris should shoot Commander Crane. Have they ever served together on the same ship?"

Jiggs was getting very tired of all this he just wanted to get out of the station a long way away from Santa Barbara and preferably never hear Lee Crane's name mentioned again.

"They're called boats, submarines, they're boats, and for the umpteenth time NO. Harris' career was pretty much over before Crane was stationed at Pearl, he had been confined to base pending Court Martial; violent conduct and theft of military property. Crane had just been promoted to XO on the USS Sawfish at the time but wouldn't have come into contact with Harris. I seem to remember he only arrived a couple of weeks before the Sawfish was deployed, lived on the sub never saw the light of day, remember thinking he been dropped in at the deep end not having much time to get to know his new boat or crew. Prior to that he had been stationed at Groton and spent time at Norfolk when not out at sea; he had spent much of his time on active duty. Harris on the other hand had spent a large amount of his career in desk duties. It was felt that was the best use of his … er talents"

Officer Baker nodded slowly "I see; could he have been jealous of Commander Crane's career do you think, could they have met on any training exercises and it got to Harris, put his nose of joint so to speak. After all Commander Crane was several years younger and already higher ranking".

"Without checking records I can't say for certain they never met on a course somewhere, but I think it is highly unlikely. Whilst Crane's career has always been very much on the up and Harris was never going to match him, he has never been the sort of person to show off his success"

"Um I see"

Jiggs tentatively started to rise, "Can I go now, I've helped you all I can, I really can't think of anything more I can tell you about either man that you haven't already found out for yourselves from their records". He was feeling tired and he just wanted to get out of the police station and back to the comfort of his office and pour himself a large drink.

As they walked to the front door to leave Jiggs mind was on other things when he was struck by the rear view of a vaguely familiar looking woman at the front desk, at that moment she turned and faced them

"Dad!"

"Sarah?"


End file.
